Purdue’s 2026 football outlook from ESPN’s new Football Power Index is better than the last couple of years, but it still doesn’t point toward a bowl trip.
The Boilermakers enter Barry Odom’s second season ranked No. 71 in the preseason FPI, which makes them the lowest-ranked Big Ten team and puts them behind only three other power conference programs: Iowa State at No. 72, Boston College at No. 78 and Stanford at No. 80.
That placement fits what Purdue has done on the field lately. The Boilermakers are coming off a 2-10 season in 2025, went 0-9 in Big Ten play and have not won a conference game in the last two seasons. Since the 2024 campaign, they’ve totaled just seven victories.
ESPN’s projections point to modest improvement, but not enough to get Purdue over the bowl line. The FPI expects a 4-8 finish, though a 5-7 record is also a reasonable way to read the numbers. Either way, it would be a step forward from the past two seasons and would at least suggest more competitiveness in Odom’s second year in West Lafayette.
There is still a path, however narrow, to December football. Purdue has been given a 25% chance to reach a bowl game, a number that isn’t especially encouraging but does leave the door cracked open.
The schedule is part of the reason. Purdue is set to face one of the 25 toughest slates in the country again, but it does avoid Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon and USC.
Even so, the Boilermakers still have to deal with reigning national champion Indiana, Notre Dame, Iowa and Penn State. They’ll play 11 power conference opponents, with Indiana State as the only non-power team on the schedule, and seven of those opponents won at least eight games last season.
So while the schedule is lighter than what Purdue has dealt with the past two years, it still isn’t forgiving.
The bigger picture remains pretty clear. Odom has talked about winning championships in West Lafayette, but that is a longer-term goal. For 2026, the more realistic benchmark is simple: win a few Big Ten games and stay in the bowl hunt into November.
A College Football Playoff run is far-fetched. ESPN gives Purdue a 0.5% chance to make the playoff, along with a 0% chance to win the national title or reach the National Championship Game. If the Boilermakers are even in the mix late in the season, that would count as a major jump.